Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
25th February ff
Le Petit Tour de Yorkshire
A day out with Barry in Tiggy2: 25/2 We headed for Wykeham and saw our first red-legged partridges of the year en route. A stop at the T-junction at the end of the road up from Wykeham produced a clutch of three crossbills. Here's two of them: a juvenile and a male.
I spotted another at the Raptor Watchpoint but I wasn't quite quick enough!! Dive bombing!
After enjoying views of a couple of goshawks we moved on to Forge Valley where we saw the expected usual suspects including nuthatch, treecreeper and marsh tit. Hackness delivered with a nice pair of mandarins. The photo turned out better than I expected.
Scarborough harbour was quiet.
Just this redshank to photograph...
...and a house sparrow on the lobster pots...
...and a load of friendly turnstones!
Nearly forgot: a brute of a great black-back patrolled the harbour.
Holbeck had a nice Mediterranean gull for Barry but we continued to Bempton. I couldn't locate a razorbill although the RSPB staff said there were some. Lots of gannets, guillemots and some kittiwakes on the sea.
And this charming couple!
February 27th Evening: the moon and Venus were very close. By the time they were clearly visible from our house they had drifted apart somewhat. The moon looked a little bit like a piece of nibbled cheese!
March 2nd - a couple of hours at Blacktoft.
Spring has come
The grass is ris!
I wonder where the daisies is?
They're here!
Goldeneye and snipe showing at Townend hide.
Mallards and greylags flying past.
Eventually a male marsh harrier gave me some stunning views. Made the visit memorable!
March 3rd: Lockwood Beck, Skinningrove and South Gare with Barry. We saw quite a few red grouse en route. Lockwood Beck had siskin and other common birds. Skinningrove turned up trumps with a black redstart [not photographed - it was too quick for us] and a pair of stonechats.
Rock pipit and dunnock amongst the boulders of the rock armour.
Here's the female stonechat.
South Gare provided a good year tick for me in the shape of a group of four twite...
...and a couple of spring flowers. Alexanders and a coltsfoot.
137 UK 2020
10th February ff
Wind!
I'm tired of it. Please go away. We seem to spend hours each day picking up twigs and leaves from the trees in our garden as the winds give them a constant battering. Birding? Yes, I have been out but I haven't taken any photos. Mainly because of the distance between me and the birds in question or the poor light. A trip to Filey in January which featured no successes [abject failure to find a firecrest!] but I decided I should have included this one of Filey Bay some time ago - so here it is, belatedly.
February 19th was a good day for the bird list: a redhead smew at Nosterfield [Lingham Lake, quarry site], a ring-necked duck and a scaup at Ellerton Lake near Bolton-on-Swale and then on the 21st Barry and I went to North Duffield where I saw my first sparrowhawk of the year. Normally regular in the garden but strangely absent at the moment. Here's a view from the path to Garganey hide which was dry, by the way.
From there we proceeded to North Cave where we were really pleased to get close views of a drake scaup. Barry got some really good photos of the scaup and of a confiding pochard.
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February 23rd: a trip up to Hartlepool. Still very windy and cold but saw my first avocet of 2020 at Greatham Creek [just one present, 5 today 24/2/20] plus a ruddy shelduck at Cowpen Marsh. Otherwise pretty quiet. The glaucous gull at Saltholme that if I did see it I couldn't convince myself for sure - so it's not on the list! I braved the wind at Newburn Bridge for a few photos - tide was very high so not much rock armour left for the waders.
The Headland from Newburn Bridge
The waders including an oystercatcher with a strange eyeball.
I waved the big lens around hopefully as some black-headed gulls were blown past.
All quiet at Saltholme even though I spent some time hoping for a water rail at the Watchpoint. An egret was tucked away on the edge of the reedbed.
Big surprise today as I drove down our road. I spotted a bird in a tree about 50 meters from our house and stopped to get a good look. I went home, Sheila grabbed the bins and shouted : 'It's a waxwing!' Confirming what I was pretty sure of already. Here it is taken from our bedroom window: hard to focus on anything other than twigs. It disappeared and then reappeared about 40 mins later and I spotted a blackcap in the same tree! A nice year tick [the blackcap] - I had seen waxwings in Billingham on 10th January.
126 UK 2020
02.02.20 ff
If you weren't a birder you probably wouldn't consider either locations featured in this episode as a place to see some good birds. But you'd be wrong...
1: Grimsby Institute
An unlikely place perhaps for a rarity but, apparently, black-throated thrushes can turn up almost anywhere. Without further ado, here's the one I saw [on my second visit] in the grounds of Grimsby Institute, 2nd February.
2: Hartlepool
February 7th saw me sitting comfortably in Barry's car heading north to Hartlepool to boost his birdlist for the year. In possession of a wants list, his day was planned and I was more than happy to just be along for the ride. In the end Barry got 11 year ticks and I was pleasantly surprised to get two. So here goes: we began at Ward Jackson Park searching for ring-necked parakeets.
Hartlepool Headland was quiet. A few eider lingered in the entrance to the fish dock...
...and a herring gull came past noisily. I swung the smaller zoom lens I was using that day and fired away hopefully. Quite pleased with these shots of a bird often passed by...
Next we headed for the lifeboat station and walked out on the rock armour pier to view the fish dock and the Headland. Photo of me thanks to Barry.
Cormorants were hanging out on the bridge by the lifeboat station, enjoying the sunshine.
Newburn Bridge for any waders that might be present as high tide approached. It was, in fact, relatively quiet. Oystercatchers, a few sanderling and a lone purple sandpiper obliged.
My first rock pipits of the year were seen at a couple of sites round the headland.
North Gare road: wigeon and curlew
Dorman's Pool: black swan and black coot!
Plus stonechats. A grey heron flew over us as we returned to the car park.
On to Saltholme proper: a brief lunch break in Phil Stead hide where things were very quiet. Good if you like teal. Then a few shovelers flew in.
We headed for the Wildlife Watchpoint. I hoped for water rail but missed it when one appeared and disappeared almost instantly. I finished my day photographically with a display by two marsh harriers. At the time I didn't realise just how good this show was: I was busy trying to maintain focus lock and follow the bird[s]. Quite good when I look back!
121 UK 2020
27th January 2020 ff
Where is Redcar Tarn?
Answer: in Keighley!
I drove there on Monday afternoon [27/1/20] to look for an Iceland gull. I'd never been before so I didn't really know what to expect. It's basically a very large pond with a parking area high up above the town not too far from Bradford. When I arrived a small group of birders were scanning the whole area. Perhaps it's gone, I thought. But no it hadn't moved all afternoon from the flooded pool in the adjacent field. The birders were just checking to see what else they might find.
So, here's the bird.
January 29th: North Cave and Blacktoft
The bittern was just about visible from Turret Hide as can be seen below.
However, much better views could be enjoyed from East Hide...
Also seen...
...and an approaching buzzard.
I moved on to Blacktoft hoping to see the barn owl later. Again I had ridiculously close views of yet another buzzard...
Also seen: lapwings, shoveler, gadwall, a Royal Navy helicopter, little grebe and - eventually- a barn owl reluctant to ever leave its box at Marshland lagoon.
Saving the best till last, later a marsh harrier came ultra close over Marshland hide.
January 31st: Anglers' Country Park
Specifically to see a black-necked grebe along with supporting cast of Canada geese, tufted ducks, goosander. Here they all are! Some nice size comparisons!
217 UK 2020
17th-19th January 2020
East coast birding!
17th January 2020
I began at Hartlepool Headland hoping to finally see the long-tailed duck after a few misses when the bird had disappeared due to disturbance by incoming boats. Today my luck was in. Never really close but good enough I thought. Also featured: eiders.
From there I went to North Gare car park just to see if there were any skylarks hiding in the long grass. I'd seen them there a previous winter. To my surprise I found a pair immediately.
On to the old River Tees at Middlesbrough Morrisons supermarket looking for green sandpiper. No sign just this redshank.
19th January at Bempton Cliffs RSPB
It was one of those days when there were thousands of guillemots on the cliffs...
...and small numbers of gannets out at sea.
I always think that Filey Brigg [or properly Carr Naze] looks man-made when seen from Bempton.
I hoped that the short-eared owls would appear in the afternoon. A kestrel showed first...
...then the shorties - 2 of them.
Roe deer came bounding into view, but weren't noticed by passing birders!
More owls. They were spotted!
24th January: Scarborough
I began at Filey looking for an elusive firecrest. It remained elusive. Bempton was quiet this time - no guillemots on the cliffs or on the sea. I tried for peregrine on Marine Drive as a volunteer I know at Bempton said: 'Just park at lamppost 60 and look around you on the clifftop.'
It really was that easy! Fulmars first, but en route I called briefly at Holbeck Cliff car park. I do like gulls and I hoped to see a med gull or two...
There were harbour porpoises just offshore.
Just below the rock armour on Marine Drive I spotted a splodgy looking duck.
A long-tailed duck juvenile I presume - with not much tail!
I'll finish this post with the peregrine late afternoon on the clifftop photographed using my car to steady the camera as it pointed up at a steep angle.
